For The Love of a Daughter
by FallingforWerewolves
Summary: Natalie ran into her room, locking the door behind her.  She could hear the shouts and the pounding of footsteps outside her bedroom.  To her, it sounded like a war.


**A/N: I don't know what possesed me to write this, but I did. This is based on Demi Lovato's song "For The Love of a Daughter". If anyone knows the supposed date of Natalie's birthday, tell me, because I couldn't find it anywhere.**

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><p>It was July 17th, 1997, when Natalie Kabra entered the world. She was a beautiful baby, as everyone had expected.<p>

Vikram had insisted on holding his baby girl. Little two year-old Ian was standing on his toes to get a better look at his little sister, but failed in his attempts. Eventually, Vikram sat in a chair next to Isabel's bed and pulled Ian onto his lap and they all gazed lovingly down at the newest addition to the family.

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><p>Natalie didn't like it when her parents shouted at each other. She never understood what they were yelling about. Ian once told her it was because the whole family, not just they were fighting. Natalie didn't understand. She had never fought with anybody. True, Ian had upset her from time to time by stealing her dolls and doing something perfectly horrendous to them, but it was never that serious.<p>

The worst time had been when they were shouting at the dinner table, and the little four year-old girl said:

"Stop fighting! It's just... stupid!"

Vikram never liked to be interrupted and his adrenalin was already full to bursting from arguing with Isabel. He looked Natalie in the eye, and she understood his look right away. Running from the table, she fled upstairs. She turned her delicate head around to see both Ian and Isabel holding him back.

Natalie ran into her room, locking the door behind her and leaning back against it. She could hear the shouts and the pounding of footsteps outside her bedroom. To her, it sounded like a war.

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><p>Natalie began her Lucian training a few months later. Her mother teaching some subjects, her father teaching other subjects.<p>

Her father had stumbled into the room once, with a bottle of some sort in his hand. The lesson on picking locks started smoothly enough, with him showing her the right way to angle a paper clip and such. Sometimes, though, his words were slurred and Natalie didn't know what he was saying.

Then, Vikram started touching her in places she didn't want to be touched.

She had run to her mother after, telling her through tears what had happened. Isabel reassured her that it would never happen again, resulting in both Natalie and Ian taking lessons from her.

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><p>As the years progressed, Natalie grew closer to her mother and further from her father. Isabel introduced her to the world of shopping and ways of getting revenge on Ian, which were both quite enjoyable. Vikram still gave her things, but she felt as if it was more of a charity than anything loving.<p>

Natalie would be studiously cracking codes that her mother had come up with when her drunk dad would come stumbling in, calling her horrid things. Then he would yell at her to leave him alone, but she didn't think she could in good conscience. She wished he would just stop drinking.

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><p>The next time she directly spoke to him was about a week before Grace's funeral. Natalie was asking him why they hadn't spoken to each other in five years when he slapped her right across the face. She fell to the floor, hand grasping her cheek. Ian helped get up, hugging her protectively, as she cried. Isabel was now giving Vikram quite the mouthful.<p>

"What ever happened to me being your baby girl?" Natalie suddenly yelled out.

Everyone froze, wondering what was going to be said next.

"You know that I love you," said Vikram calmly.

"That's a lie and you know it!" she screamed at him and ran away.

She ran into her room again and heard the war she had heard when she was four years old. She collapsed onto the floor inside her massive closet, bawling.

Ian came in moments later and attempted to comfort her, failing. Natalie was now scared that the bond the siblings shared was as fake as the one she shared with her father.

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><p>Natalie, now thirteen, was pretending to sleep. The other hostages probably thought she was, but acting was a skill both Lucians and Janus' shared.<p>

Vikram had disappeared off the face of the earth just before Isabel's trial. Natalie and Ian had been left on their own. Now, she had no one. She looked back on the early years with her father, feeling vulnerable, which she hated. But no matter how much she tried, she couldn't give up on him.

Natalie Kabra's greatest wish was for her father to love her like he should've.


End file.
